Presenter: Lane Swenson, University College, Student Leadership and Success Studies
Authors: Lane Swenson, Daniel Dean Riddle, Marie Bardsley, Paxton Bean, Peter Beard, Stockton Grant Carter
Faculty Advisor: Darin Eckton, University College, Department of Student Leadership and Success Studies
Institution: Utah Valley University
Within the past 30 years, Ballroom Dance has been the topic of very few peer-reviewed studies. Some of the most recent studies have been Ballrooms’ focus on gaining recognition in the Olympics, addressing racial and gender-related issues, as well as its focus in medical journals combating diseases such as Dementia and Parkinson’s. Despite Ballroom Dance’s advances in research, there is a dearth of documentation that focuses solely on Ballroom Dance as an artistic form of dance. The purpose of this thesis is to test whether or not Ballroom Dance can be utilized and defined as a form of artistic dance. Through the use of documented literature, interviews, participant observations, and qualitative data collection, the author will do the following: • Create a clear definition of ‘art’ and ‘artistry’. • Identify aspects of Ballroom Dance history, theory, movement qualities, and elements that shows a lack of artistic merit. • Decipher and compare the current state of Ballroom Dance to that of other dance forms. • Conduct an experiment where the elements of other ‘artistic’ dance forms are incorporated into Ballroom Dance choreography. • Collect and gather data from the field subjects (dancers performing the choreography) and a viewing audience, in hopes of obtaining their experience to this new form of movement.